Kerry Halladay, WLJ Managing Editor

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a final rule vacating the listing of the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The rule was announced in the Federal Register and resulted from a court-ordered delisting following a lawsuit brought by numerous counties in New Mexico.

Just a couple days before Congress began its seven-week recess, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a bill seeking to amend commodity checkoff programs. The bill seeks to prohibit what it and the senators describe as illegal use of checkoff funds.

The cash fed cattle market was, like most of the cattle and beef markets, depressed last week. As of Thursday afternoon, almost 22,000 head had been confirmed sold. Cattle traded for $116-118 live and roughly $186 dressed, a $4 decline in all ranges compared to cash cattle the week before.

“We want to encourage the sellers to have skin in the game, so to speak, but we also want to encourage consignment, so there’s a balance there. We’ve got both parties wanting to see this be successful so I think we’ll come to some good conclusions and something equitable for everyone to make the experience good.

By close of trade last Thursday, the cash fed cattle market had not even moved 8,000 head of cattle. Prices for live cattle ranged from $120-121 and dressed cattle went for $191. These prices were below the prior week’s $122-123 live and $194-200 dressed levels.

When asked why there was no policy, Shepherd suggested that it was not likely something people ask about too often. He did note that the issue of taking multiple types of grazing livestock out onto an allotment designated for one species is not entirely novel.

Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed HR 3844, the “Bureau of Land Management Foundation Act.” The bill would create a nonprofit, charitable foundation intended to benefit the BLM in a variety of efforts including abandoned mine reclamation and the Wild Horse and Burro Program among others.

By close of trade Thursday afternoon, some respectable—and relieving—cash fed trade had developed. Over 28,000 head had been confirmed sold for the week at prices of $120-123 live and $194-195 dressed. These prices were well above the prior week’s prices of $115-116 live and $186-190.

Have you ever heard the phrase “A butterfly flaps its wings in Amazonian jungle and a storm ravages half of Europe,” or something similar? Such phrases are used to illustrate the butterfly effect. It is a concept within the mathematical field of study called “chaos theory.

“Last week 5-area average steer prices were $120.62, the lowest of 2016 and the lowest since the market bottomed in December,” he noted last Monday morning. “Last week’s cash price was the lowest for that particular calendar week since 2012 when prices averaged $119.

If purse strings are the new regulatory reins, the Senate is certainly trying to pull back on several government agencies with reputations for overreach. A Senate committee approved cuts to the budgets of both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the tune of many millions of dollars.

The Tureceks have ranched and farmed on the eastern plains of Colorado since 1910. Over the last 36 years, Keven and Sandi Turecek have combined land from both sides of the family to create what is now the Stacked Lazy 3 Ranch, a cow/calf and dryland wheat business comprised of 5,000 acres of farmland and 30,000 acres of pasture.

The loss of a calf to predators is nothing new to ranchers. Everyone who’s raised cattle for any length of time has a story of finding a tiny ravaged body that sticks with them over the years. James Holmes’ story is fairly recent, but it motivated some changes on the Cherokee Ranch.

Last week saw a concerning multi-part collapse in the cattle markets. Cash fed cattle trade amounted to more than 20,000 head by close of trade on Thursday at prices significantly lower than those seen the week before. Live cattle traded for $118-122, $4-8 lower than the prior week, and dressed cattle went for $187-196, a whopping $9-23 lower.

The U.S. government seems increasingly intent on tearing itself apart these days. While the increasing nastiness of the ongoing presidential campaign is certainly center stage in that regard, there is a less obvious battle going on in the courts. At issue is state versus federal agency power, and state power recently scored a win.

The cash fed cattle market was slow to develop last week as it had been the week before. At the end of last Thursday, barely 3,500 head had been confirmed sold. Though these levels were too low to establish a price trend for the week, prices ranging from $128-132 live and $204-206 dressed were steady to a few dollars above the prior week’s prices.

When the year turns toward summer, the American mind turns to water. Kids playing in it. Everyone drinking more of it. Ranchers and farmers in some places worrying if there will be too much of it. Ranchers and farmers in other places worrying if there won’t be enough of it.